This invention pertains generally to building concrete walls and other concrete structures having stone, brick, tile or siding surfaces, and more specifically, to an apparatus which allows concrete structures having stone, brick, tile or siding surfaces to be efficiently built without skilled labor.
Brick has been used to build castles, houses, and commercial structures from early times, to present day. A drawback to using brick relates to its required use of highly skilled labor to properly build the brick outer walls of a structure. Brick masons are specialists in their field, are in high demand, and can charge premium prices for the work they perform, escalating the price of construction out of the reach of the majority of home buyers.
Due to expense of brick masonry, most entry-level and move-up homeowners gravitate towards alternative, and more affordable building materials such as wood and stucco structures, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cstick constructionxe2x80x9d in the building industry.
In recent years, the cost of stick construction has begun to increase rapidly, although it is still not yet near in price to solid brick construction. The driving force behind the increase in the cost of stick construction has been environmental restrictions on logging, which has driven up the cost of wood products, and additionally, the cost of disposal of wood waste from construction, which is significant. It is also likely that as future demand for new construction increases with increasing population, that the supply of wood products will not be able to meet this future demand, thereby driving the cost of stick construction up even beyond present day levels.
In an attempt to seek an alternative to stick construction, concrete has been used increasingly as a viable alternative building material. Although concrete is often perceived as gray and unaesthetic, this perception has changed in recent years with new technology, which allows concrete to be colored and formed in various aesthetic shapes. Concrete is also very cost effective and not given to high environmental costs since it can be manufactured from readily available abundant aggregates such as limestone, clay, and sand, which can be produced locally in most areas, thereby avoiding the significant transportation costs associated with lumber.
The technology which has developed around concrete building construction is designed to complement the existing positive aspects of concrete, and to add extra utility thereto. An example of such a technology is that produced by United Building Forms, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. United uses a stackable Polystyrene forms (called an Insulating Concrete Form, or xe2x80x9cICFxe2x80x9d) having two sides, and a plurality of permanent center xe2x80x9cribsxe2x80x9d attaching the two sides and spanning across the interior of each ICF. The spaces separating the ribs comprise a plurality of through-holes within which reinforcing bar (rebar) can be set for adding strength to the concrete. Upon vertically stacking the ICFs, the through-holes match up and create a tunnel for placing the rebar. Each ICF is vertically stacked upon its predecessor, and interlocked upon its predecessor via tongue-in-groove coupling. When the concrete is poured and set, the ICFs remain in place, and cannot be removed, due mainly to the cross-ribs, which are now firmly set in the concrete. The opposite sides of the ICF create an insulating barrier, which creates an R-20 insulating factor. This level of insulation can result in a 50 per cent savings in energy costs over conventional stick construction.
Once the ICF walls are in place, their Polystyrene exterior is fully visible, even though their cores are comprised of solidified concrete. The result is a highly-insulated, nearly indestructible wall, which can then be finished into a structure by adding a roof, electrical, plumbing, and landscaping. The ICF system used by United Building Forms also reduces the amount of labor required to build a typical house or other structure, and additionally, requires only low-skilled laborers to construct, thereby reducing labor costs significantly.
The exterior of the ICF walls can be painted, stuccoed, or else have a brick or stone veneer glued to the exterior, to give the appearance of a solid brick or stone structure. Although this step can give a house the appearance of a brick structure, it is nevertheless still a mere veneer, and not a solid brick wall, having all the quality and solidity associated therewith.
Typical veneer systems are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,407,104 and 4,956,949 which disclose polystyrene and brick veneer systems which allow an exterior surface of bricks to be attached to a stick built structure. The bricks are attached with clips to polystyrene panels, which are then hung in place upon a stick structure.
While the prior art discloses various methods for hanging brick veneers on structures, none disclose a system for placing real brick, stone, tile or siding surfaces upon a structure without resorting to expensive masonry methods. Additionally, none of the prior art teach placing a real brick, stone, tile or siding surface onto a concrete structure. Therefore, a need exists whereby a non-veneer solid brick, stone, tile or siding-faced structure can be built inexpensively and preferably, from concrete. The present invention accomplishes these ends.
The foregoing discussion reflects the state of the art of which the inventor is aware, and is tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor""s acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information which may be pertinent with regards to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the disclosed patents and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor""s claimed invention.
The present invention relates to a xe2x80x9csurface panelxe2x80x9d, which allows a decorative and utilitarian brick, stone, tile or siding motif surface to be incorporated into a concrete structure. The individual bricks, stones, tiles or siding pieces and their equivalents, will collectively be termed xe2x80x9cmotif componentsxe2x80x9d, herein. The surface panel described herein can be used with or without an ICF system, however, the advantages of using this panel in conjunction with an ICF system will be stressed. The surface panel is preferably made from polystyrene due to its light weight and durable quality.
By itself, the surface panel has a plurality of recessed bordered regions with raised borders, for placing bricks, stone, tile, siding or any other type of motif component. The bordered regions are preferably sized and shaped to snugly engage the motif components and hold them within the bordered regions via a friction fit. When positioned in the border regions, each motif component protrudes above the raised border a distance substantial enough to expose sufficient surface area to a concrete pour, so as to embed the exposed area of the motif component into the concrete, upon drying. The concrete serves as a mortar for holding the motif components solidly embedded into the concrete. Upon removing the surface panel, the result is a concrete structure having a uniform surface of brick, stone, tile or siding. Also, while concrete is mentioned as the preferred pourable mortar herein, any pourable mortar or binder which holds the motif components within a finished structure could be used.
The surface panel is designed to be one side of a concrete form well, the opposite side of the form well is comprised on an xe2x80x9cinterior panelxe2x80x9d. This interior panel can be another surface panel containing motif components, a plywood panel, or a polystyrene ICF panel. The surface panel fastens to the interior panel, completing the form well, which is filled with a pourable concrete mixture. A plurality of fasteners span the well and hold the surface panel and interior panel in place during a concrete pour, and subsequent drying of the concrete. The fasteners include spacers which separate the surface panel and interior panel, these spacers being designed to become part of the concrete structure and remain embedded in the concrete for attaching wall components, cabinets, and the like. Additionally, these spacers can be used to attach scaffolding to build higher concrete walls.
This invention also comprises an ICF system which uses the surface panel and has an insulating polystyrene interior panel. In one embodiment, this invention relates to an ICF having a modular character which allows a concrete wall to be built by stacking successive ICF""s upon each other using an interlocking tongue-in-groove mechanism. The ICF system can also incorporate a plurality of pre-formed plastic support panels which are superior to plywood support panels presently in use.
Finally, this invention comprises a concrete structure as a product of the surface panel previously described. The versatility of the surface panel allows it to be used to build numerous concrete structures including but not limited to, walls, buildings, houses, columns, pillars, and stanchions.
As such, this invention seeks to achieve the following objects and advantages:
It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for incorporating real motif surfaces into concrete construction as an alternative to using veneer surfaces.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for incorporating motif surfaces into concrete construction using an ICF.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a more cost effective method for building real brick, stone, tile or siding structures which does not depend on the use of skilled labor.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method for building real brick, stone, tile or siding structures in a shorter length of time when compared with traditional masonry methods.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention, without placing limitations thereon.